Changes in the Wind
by Sleepies
Summary: My first fanfic! Inspired by ep. 32 of the manga, it's the story of Rukia and Renji while still at the academy. I'd love comments!
1. Differences

**_Author's Note:_** It seems I'm one of the few people to truly hope that the relationship between Renji and Rukia is a romantic one, and such is the inspiration for my first story ever! Two notes on reading: (1) this is meant to be in line with ep. 32 of the anime; and (2) while I realize many seem to interpret the RukiRen relationship as one of antagonism, I was more impressed by how gentle he _could_ be, and was at moments in the manga. Ah, so please bear with me, and thanks for reading: )

_It was the perfect day to be outdoors practicing. The warmth of the sun could be seen through the green of the leaves, and the white of the clouds was just enough to accent the vibrant blue above them._

Renji noticed that her skills were improving rapidly. Her speed was one to match his, her maneuvers were more confident, and her aim became more accurate with each hit. Since they had entered Central Spirit Tech, the academy for shinigami, he could sense a new resolve in her. He too shared in this need: to prove himself, to show that his background did not determine his talent, strength and skills. Together, they practiced often in these woods, often joined by Kira and Hinamori.

_And yet, today seemed different._

She seemed lost. Her attacks were not nearly as powerful as he knew them to be. Her steps were sluggish and heavy. The air itself around her seemed distant of the surrounding beauty.

_What's wrong, he thought._

Though he wanted to ask her such a question, she was not the type to pour her troubles out. She would smile it away and responsively increase her focus for a short while. So, recognizing such futility, he continued on. Hit upon hit. Attack and defended. Clang!

Regardless of her mood, he couldn't get a hit past her. To retreat for a moment, if only to collect his thoughts, he jumped high into the air, among the very branches of the looming trees. He wondered if he should tell her this wasn't practice—she wasn't even trying! It was a waste of time.

A wind rustled near his ear. He turned his gaze to see a few leaves rustling unnaturally. Then he felt the sting.

In his distraction, her sword connected with his face. A small cut on his cheek began to rain drops and rivulets of dark red blood. Taken by surprise, he lost all concentration and fell roughly to the ground.

Laying on his back, with the wind completely taken out of him, he heard above him, "RENJI! YOU IDIOT! YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO FALL!"

She was at his side a moment later. Facing him, leaning over his chest, she removed a small cloth in her pocket as well as a small vial of ointment she kept for occasions like this. (As she was not yet a master of the healing arts, through their skirmishes, she became a master at treating cuts and wounds.)

"Damn you. You're getting better, Rukia," he laughed while she dabbed the ointment on the cloth.

"No, you're just slow, stupid." she replied with a low sigh while with every ounce of gentleness she applied the cloth to his cut. He winced.

In the ensuing moments, they didn't speak. He could feel her weight pressed against his body, and noticed what he shouldn't have. As she leaned over him, the overlapping layer of her student's robe lay just loose enough to grant him a fleeting view of the outline of the shape of her figure. Since the day at the river when they were children, when flowers glowed in her dripping hands, he had never considered her to be anything more than his little sister.

_And yet, today, you are different._

_Today, this girl beside him was beautiful._

"What were you thinking about up there?" she asked quietly.

Not wanting to sound out of character, he replied with a light air: "I was thinking about how badly you were practicing today. Then you caught me off guard. Cheap shot." He raised an eyebrow and feigned a frown.

She continued to dab his wound. He didn't feel any pain, but he didn't want her to stop. He'd let himself get cut all the time if it meant this kind of treatment.

"I'm sorry, Renji. It's just… hard right now."

"What… is it?" He paused carefully, not wanting to pry too far.

"Oh, you know how it is. School is just hard." She shrugged his gaze off.

"Do you want me to help? I am in the advanced class, after all." He smiled with a smug.

He looked at her, questioning how he should continue. It was obvious that something important troubled her, and yet, he did not know how to open her. He was her protector, but only in body. In mind, it was as though she sat behind a closed window: close enough for him to see her conflict, yet just far enough from his reach.

"I'm fine, Renji. Really, it's just an off day."

He wasn't getting anywhere. He thought for a moment… he should change the subject!

Stepping out of the mold for a moment, and hoping to lighten the mood, he said awkwardly, "You know, I really appreciate what you said yesterday… about how I should keep raising my hand. We are different from the rest of these kids, but we'll be better. I know we will."

She looked down. Not a word found itself. She began to shiver as though a cold breeze had taken her.

Almost inaudibly, she whispered, "Will we?"

He had struck the chord.

In a tone he had never heard before, in broken phrases, and in pained warm tears, she continued: "Renji, we are so far from them. They were raised for this school…this life. But we came here as an escape from our real lives. Who are we, Renji?... Who are we... Why are we here!" she sobbed.

At this, she could hold up no further. She wrapped her thin arms around his neck and let her tears flow unhindered. Thinking and not thinking, confused and torn apart. Her emotions took hold of her. Feeling her world was becoming unhinged, she clung tightly to the one person she felt could bring it to a stop.

Renji, on the other hand, as with most men when confronted with how to comfort a crying woman, did not know what was going on. Instinctively, he placed his arms over her back and shoulders. Then, without thinking, his hold grew stronger and pulled her closer to him. He could feel her warm cheek pressed against his, and her tears on his face. He held her to stop her body from shaking.

For several minutes, they lay together like this, wrapped and wound around one another. Gradually, she began to calm and loosen her hold. He too, sensing this, released her… but only slightly. Just enough so she could lean up and look at him. Seeing her overrun with tears, he placed a hand ever so gently on her face. Keeping his palm to support her, he glided over a tear with his thumb.

With the sun shining in patches all around them, dancing in Rukia's hair, Renji saw her to be beautiful. Until now, he had only seen the boyish nature of her personality, and the roughness of her fists. Perhaps those were all that she allowed him to see. But today, he saw much more. Today, she was different. He was different.

Through her eyes, he saw a vulnerability she allowed him. He could see how much she wanted him to say he would make things okay. And he was touched by this. He continued to stroke her face with his fingers, and she smiled delicately at him.

Looking into one another, they leaned closer, and connected. Ever so lightly, he touched her lips with his. Neither entertained a thought. The sun itself seemed to smile, blush and turn away.

It was a moment that lasted just enough…

Each pulled away, and smiled contentedly.

"You better study harder if you're going to beat me. You're 100 years too early to fight me right now." she said slowly and with a sly smile.

"Ha. I let you hit me. How could I hit a pathetic looking girl like you?" He laughed. "Besides," he added, "I'll always be strong enough for you," matching her smile.

_Yes, Rukia, I'll always be strong for you._

la fin!

I would love some feedback on this, as I plan to make this a three-part story, unless I'm told that I'm a horrible writer and should quit writing for the rest of my life. Thanks for reading : ) !


	2. Hana

**_Author's Note:_** As with the previous chapter, this is meant to be in line with ep. 32 of the anime. I've changed my style a little, to defluff my work, but if it sounds odd, let me know please! I'm trying to find a happy medium : ) I had a LOT of fun writing this, so please please please tell me what you think! Thanks!

**Hana**

He smiled.

He was walking and smiling.

Like a total idiot.

But he couldn't stop.

_Ha, what was that anyway, Rukia?_

It had been over a week since their memory in the forest. Since then, whenever they ran into one another, they never spoke of it. Instead, when their eyes would meet, they would smile slyly, as though such smiles whispered a supremely beautiful secret. _Himitsu._

No one could have known about the moment that had transpired that afternoon, which even now was lost somewhere between the shade of the trees and cool comfort of the fallen leaves. Hence, they smiled. Like idiots.

It was a Friday afternoon. Fridays, they usually spent together wandering about the Seireitei, recounting the week and laughing as they did as children. But today, they had planned a special trip. It was a special Friday.

She was waiting at the southern gate, facing the enormous opening. The mousey outline of her small figure seemed almost comical against the gatekeeper himself. In her right hand, she held the pink passes she had obtained for her and Renji.

"RUKIA!"

"I should buy you a watch."

"I'm sorry I'm late."

"Then learn to tell time, genius." He let a smile escape, but hit her lightly on the shoulder to distract her attention from it.

Without looking, she handed him the pass. Together, they met the gatekeeper, handed him their passes, and walked out onto the dirt road that stretched far in front of them. Inuzuri, the 78th district of South Rukongai, after all, was far away.

Several hours later, the muggy and familiar smells of the Rukongai river reached them. The sun, which all afternoon had been seeping his way into the fibers of their robes, had now retreated in defeat and lay dormant in the warm orange luminescence of its set.

Rukia was happy to feel the cool breeze that rose from the river. She felt lighthearted, and happy that Renji was by her. Noticing that the spot where they had once fished was empty, she reached down to the hem of her robe, rolled it up to her thighs and galloped to the river. She laughed, "RENJI! YOU'RE TOO SLOW!" He, unobservant and stunned, ran after her.

She was a faster runner, and plunged into the water first. Throwing her feet up, tossing water at him in scoops, she watched him scramble to roll up his robe on the bank.

"Poor kitty-chan. Afraid of the water?" she yelled with a coy smile.

"You just WAIT, Ru..KIA!" He lunged in after her. Anticipating the charge, she bent down and threw handfuls of water at his face, laughing at him all the while. Ox as he was, with water in his eyes, he lost control of the charge and fell heavily on her. Splash!

Thankfully, they were close enough to the bank to not be submerged in the murky water. She came back up gurgling with water and laughter. He came up with just water.

"Is that all it takes to bring you down, Renji?" she giggled. They were very close now. Her sitting with her back to the bank, arms behind her back to support herself, and him leaning oddly between her legs and his arms parallel to hers.

"It's because you cheat all the time. Guess you can't win otherwise," he responded with as much a stern face as he could muster. He failed, and smiled again.

They laughed together, enveloped and simultaneously hidden by the encroaching evening.

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and pushed up with her waist to take advantage of his unbalanced position, and flipped him over backwards into the water. He, again taken by surprise, came up with just water.

"Cheat, huh? You're just slow. Admit it," she laughed. Though she was sitting on his waist, with her knees around him, he could barely feel her weight. Breezes of water swirled around them, holding her just barely above him.

That's when she noticed it. She saw something small of a light pink shade peeking out from one of the inner folds of his robe. He followed her gaze and lost all the color in his face, which was promptly replaced by a blushing red even the deviant sun would be jealous of.

Without asking him, she reached down unhurriedly and opened his outer robe with her small fingers. His eyes screamed in protest as loud as they were able, but he did not stop her. Then she reached under his inner robe, letting her fingers graze his soft skin below. He nearly fell backwards in the water.

She couldn't believe what she held in her hands then.

_Hana-da._

Cough, cough. Renji had lost all focus of the situation. "Err, yeah, um. That, well, you know. Yeah. That was for you. If you want it. Yeah."

But it was as though she could not near him. She was lost in the small, delicate pink flower she held. Slightly flattened by their water wrestling, it was still as beautiful as the same flower she had held as a child, several years ago, to the day. The same flower she plucked out of the river and held against the warmth of the fading sun, all those years ago.

_That's why he wanted to come here today,_ she understood.

"Renji… how…"

He hadn't planned on it being this way. He planned to be suave and cool. Mr. Charming. He had planned to flash his big Renji smile at her, and she would respond with a girly laugh, "Oh Renji! You're the Greatest!" she would offer with enthusiasm. He would laugh a big, manly laugh, "Oh yes, I _am_ the greatest. Ha, ha, ha!" he would chortle.

Instead, shed had faked him out and pinned him. And she found it of her own accord. Then he responded in random one-word failures. Jeez.

"Renji… how…" she repeated, having forgotten her previous attempt.

"Yeah well, you know."

_Jeez,_ he thought. _Can't you say anything else, you moron!_ He paused.

_You shined that day,_ he said to himself._ In all the wreck that this place was, you shined like the flower you held._

Unobservant as he was, he began to see that it wasn't the river droplets that were on her cheek. Tears departed gently from her lowered eyes.

Rukia could no longer see the flower in her hands. Her vision was abandoned in tears, the existence of which she could not explain. The tears, without telling her, flowed from the part of her that never believed in the care of another… in the love of another.

She could not speak, and would not soil the moment with lost words. Instead, in a movement that seemed to last eternities, she reached forward and held him. She held him as though in doing so, she wanted to feel like he was holding every part of her. But wordlessly, she pulled back just far enough to look at him deeply, as though to ask "Renji… how…" in a secret language.

Renji was puzzled by all of this. Was she sad? Why was she crying? Again? He thought the flower would make her happy. But, clearly, it wasn't working. _Damn, forget being suave again,_ he scolded himself.

Then, giving into her desire, dropping the flower between them, void of all emotion and logical explanation, she kissed him. She held his neck with one hand, pulling him towards her with all the strength she could call for, while she held his face with the other. She pressed her lips intensely against his.

Taken as always by surprise, Renji took a moment to adjust to the change. He couldn't even close his eyes! But with the adjustment complete and the pleasure of her kiss setting in, he placed one arm around her to pull her against his chest, and his other hand on her face. His mouth, cautious at first, found freedom in the embrace of her lips. She welcomed his eagerness. Their hands mirrored the wanderings of their tongues, and with each passing instant, their kiss continued with curiosity, understanding and passion.

Toying, kissing, and wrestling in the water, they stayed the rest of the evening and dried themselves by a fire before heading back.

They arrived to the gate by late evening, looking a bit as though they had both spontaneously and continuously fallen into every puddle in Rukongai. "You guys alright?" the gatekeeper asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, uh, we got lost… in the river…" Renji started and stumbled,

"but we found our way out eventually." Rukia concluded definitively. She flashed him a coy smirk a la Ichimaru to confirm.

_Together_, they thought.

Then Renji smiled again,

like an idiot.

The gatekeeper, on the other hand, was just confused.

_**La Fin!**_

The next installment, I've decided, will start with Rukia's entrance into the Kuchiki clan and try to work more into why they grew apart. Any advice?


End file.
